75 The Choice.

Initially, the Phantom Thieves had planned to head to Dome Town for a few hours after the recording. However, with the new Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane, seemingly on their trail, they opted to skip it.

The next day, just after school, the group met up in Leblanc, in Ren's bedroom.

"Are you certain that Shirogane suspects us?" Makoto asked, her voice tinged with worry. Since she was a third-year student in Shujin, she had not been able to see the interview live.

Ren nodded intently.

"I can't say how, but her behavior gave quite a bit away. It seemed like she knew the Thieves were from Shujin. She was constantly scanning the audience whenever she discussed the Thieves. Afterward, she specifically approached me and asked about Kamoshida." Ren explained, his brow furrowed in concern.

His leg bounced anxiously as he pondered the possibility they had overlooked something critical. But for once, he couldn't pinpoint what that might be. 

Ren's face had a slight frown as he continued.

"It doesn't make sense; there is hardly any real evidence. We didn't leave a calling card for Kamoshida, and though he did confess before his mental shutdown, a teacher and a mafia boss are entirely different sides of the spectrum. There's not even any proof of how we changed Kaneshiro's heart. She shouldn't have been able to narrow it down so quickly, unless…"

"Unless she knows about the Metaverse," Makoto concluded for him.

"Yet, she didn't seem to be working with Akechi. Who we are already pretty sure is working for the people behind the shutdowns in one way or the other. Unless we had Akechi's involvement wrong." Shiho noted, adding to the complexity of their situation.

"No, it felt like Shirogane was reaching out to help us, not expose us." Ann chimed in, her tone reflective.

"But can we trust her? What if this is all a trap?" Makoto asked.

Suddenly, a message popped up from Futaba on their group chat.

[Should I try to hack into their servers? If Shirogane is working with the Kirijo Group, we might uncover something useful.]

"Hell yeah, do your magic, Futaba," Ryuji responded, his voice filled with a mix of tension and excitement.

[It's going to take me some time, but I will keep you guys informed.]

As Ren looked at the final message, he finally stopped bouncing his leg. He knew what he had to do.

— — —

The group continued to discuss their plans for the future, with them getting ready to start their preparations for the next palace. As the group left Leblanc, Ren stepped out and went to Sojiro's house.

As he walked through the quiet hallway, he reached Futaba's door and knocked in the pattern they had come to recognize as their own.

The door creaked open, and Futaba peered out, stepping back slightly. 

"Why are you here?" she asked, her voice tinged with a hint of hesitation.

"You know why…" Ren replied, his voice gentle as he saw the final fragment of her distortion clinging to her face.

"I'm working on it right now. I told you it would take me a while to hack into the Kirijo group." Futaba said, a defensive edge to her tone as she gestured towards her cluttered computer desk.

Ren paused, observing her for a moment before sighing and handing her his phone, the MetaNav app open on the screen. Futaba glanced at the device, discomfort flickering across her face before she met Ren's gaze.

"You heard what we're up against," Ren continued, his voice firm yet gentle. "We're going to need help, and right now, you are the only person I can trust with this."

Futaba hesitated, her eyes drifting to her mom's scattered books and papers around her room.

"Are you suggesting I go into Madarame's Palace or…" she began, but the serious look on Ren's face stopped her mid-sentence.

She had already realized the flaw of her 'distortion' and understood what she needed to do to finally liberate herself. Yet, the prospect of facing her deepest insecurities was daunting, causing her to delay, always finding distractions rather than confronting the shadows of her past. If she was busy, she figured Ren wouldn't come and bother her about it.

She knew she had been lied to, that the true reason her mother had died was not because of her. She knew she had lived a lie for most of her life. Finally, diving into her mother's research notes made her remember so much of her childhood that she repressed.

But that only made her have to deal with feelings she had pushed back for years. She had lived like an animal when her uncle had custody of her, going hungry, cold, and not even having a proper bed. Though at the time, she thought she deserved it for 'killing' her mom. 

She realized that by turning her room into the mess it used to be, she was subconsciously recreating that period of her life. Dealing with that realization hurt, so she didn't want to face whatever else she might find.

But at least she was better now, even if just slightly.

Her room was clean, and she was finally talking with other people. She had lied when she said she would stop spying on the Thieves, so through her hidden connection, she could feel as if she was closer to the group than she really was.

The most important part was that the panic attacks were finally gone, or at least they were for the most part.

She was better, and that was enough for her. But…

"I won't force you," Ren assured her, sensing her turmoil. "You've already done so much for us with your hacking. I have no idea how we would have been able to get the attention of the world without your help. I don't even know if we would have been able to do it without bringing too much attention to ourselves and getting caught."

A prolonged silence hung in the air until Futaba finally mustered the courage to ask. 

"What is it going to look like?"

"I don't know; each Palace is unique, and I've never been in yours. I could scout it briefly and come right back if that would help," Ren offered, trying to ease her worries.

Futaba considered this for a moment before shaking her head slightly. 

"Does it hurt...? Awakening a persona, I mean."

"A little…" Ren admitted honestly, "but it's usually overshadowed by everything else that's happening. You might hardly notice it."

Futaba paused again, pacing a little as she processed his words. 

"Why are you helping me?" she asked abruptly.

Her question was genuine. If his help was merely because she could hack for them, that was something she could manage on her own without any change. But the moment the question left her mouth, she knew that it couldn't be that reason, since he had been helping her before he even knew what she could do.

"Because you're my friend. Aren't we?" Ren responded, his smile warm and reassuring.

The simplicity and sincerity of his answer struck Futaba deeply. To her, it felt as if Truck-kun himself was trying to reincarnate her. She sat down on her bed, needing a moment to collect her thoughts.

"Can it just be us?" she asked hesitantly, looking at the app on his phone. "My distortion is mostly gone, so the Palace should be weakening. It shouldn't be too dangerous, right?"

Ren considered her request carefully before responding.

"It'll be riskier with just the two of us. I'd recommend having the whole team there in case we encounter something unexpected. But if you really want it to be just us, we can do that."

Futaba's eyes remained fixed on the MetaNav, unable to meet Ren's gaze as she confessed.

"I don't want them to see it... the worst of me."

Futaba lingered over the MetaNav, her fingers hovering tentatively over the activation command. Ren watched her, his expression a blend of concern and encouragement.

"Hey, look at me," he said gently. Futaba hesitated, then slowly raised her eyes to meet his. "You should know you don't have to hide from the others. They're good people; they won't judge you. I'm sure they'd all want to help you. You'll see how true this is once you get to know them better."

A faint smile flickered across Futaba's face, breaking through the veil of her anxiety.

"Yeah… I know… but…" she trailed off, her eyes meeting Ren's once more. "You told me I was the only one you could truly trust with the offer. It's the same for me. You are the only one I trust with seeing into my heart, my distortion."

"We'll just have to be more careful then, but it's okay. We can make it work. To tell you the truth, I don't expect this to take too long. You're almost there; you just need to confront that final step. It's difficult to put into words, but I can actually see the distortion in you, and it is only a fraction of what it was when we first met."

Futaba nodded slightly, and a deep sigh escaped her.

"Name, Location, and Distortion, right?" Futaba asked, and once Ren nodded, she spoke up again.

"Futaba Sakura, Sojiro Sakura's house…" She began hesitating for a moment and whispering the final words. "Tomb."

~Confidants~

Futaba Sakura (The Hermit.) Rank 3.

(It was a shorter-than-usual chap with 1.5k words, but I didn't want to cut off the chap at a weird spot. Plus, I didn't want to make this chap 4k words lol. 2.5k is about the biggest. I like to make the chaps.

I gotta say, I really enjoy writing Futaba chapters. When I started, I wasn't sure how to bridge stuff from the TV thing to the next arc, but when in doubt, Futaba strikes. Though ya'll would probably laugh as to what my process for writing the story is.

I have a Google Doc with every single confidant open and their rank. Usually, to get inspiration for a chap, I look at the confidants and say, "It's your turn, bud." Seventy-five chaps in, and it appears to be quite the good writing method, at least for me, lol.)